1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to digital still and video cameras and the transfer of data from a digital camera to a computer, and more particularly to an apparatus for transparently providing embedded security of data within a storage device and of securing data while being transferred from a digital camera to a computer.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In many applications, photographic data needs to be guarded or i.e. secured against unauthorized viewing, modification or distribution. Negatives, positives and prints can be manipulated with some effort, and need protection when used to accurately document images. In such a case, the original negatives and prints are typically kept in locked facilities, with signed, sealed and witnessed chains of custody. The advent of digital cameras presents even greater security challenges. The concept of an original digital image is questionable, because digital data can be perfectly replicated. In addition, digital image data can be quickly and easily modified in a computer, rendering the data useless evidentiary purposes. Currently, digital camera image data is downloaded either directly to a computer from a camera via some communication mechanism, or through a removable storage device, such as a PCMCIA card, etc. Upon downloading the data to a computer, the image data can be encrypted, or authentication data can be created to prevent an unauthorized person from modifying the data. From this point on, a witnessed chain of custody of those persons with access to the decryption key can be maintained, greatly easing the security problem.
From the above description of the prior art, it is apparent that there is a need for a method and apparatus for securing camera data automatically prior to, or as part of downloading image data from a camera. Such a method and apparatus would greatly improve the security of digital camera data.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for securing data from digital still and video cameras during the process of transferring the data from a camera to a computer.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a secure storage device for digitally saving data from a digital camera.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for securing data from still and video cameras during the process of transferring data from a camera to a computer, wherein the securing process is undetected by or i.e. transparent to the camera, and therefore providing a method and apparatus that can be used with any digital camera.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a secure storage and/or communication device that automatically encrypts loaded digital camera data.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus with dimensions and connectors in the form of a PCMCIA card that is accepted by a digital camera and a destination computer as a standard PCMCIA card, while performing the function of automatically securing loaded digital camera data.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a secure storage and/or communication device that can be programmed with a security key, that automatically stores loaded original digital camera data, and prepares encrypted authentication data.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a secure storage and/or communication device that inserts information into loaded digital camera image data, i.e. performs fingerprinting.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a secure storage and/or communication device that includes additional information along with the image data, i.e., provides annotations, such as the absolute time of acquisition, a unique and continuous image counter, and a unique image and device identification number.
Briefly, a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a secure storage device with the external dimensions of a PCMCIA card, for securing digital camera data at the acquisition stage. Original digital camera data is saved in the memory of the secure storage device which has the capability of performing one or more security functions, including encryption, creation of an authentication file, adding data to the image data such as fingerprinting, and adding secure annotations such as separate data included in an image header. The device prepares original authentication data from original digital camera data, and encrypts and stores both the original authentication data and the original image data. The use of the device includes downloading the original image data to a first computer, and encrypted original authentication data to a second computer. The second computer can be programmed with software whereby the encrypted original authentication data can be decrypted by a user having a key. The software then allows the user to prepare corresponding second authentication data from second image data of questionable authenticity. If the second authentication data is the same as the original authentication data, the questionable second image data is deemed to be an accurate copy of the original image data.
An advantage of the present invention is that it provides a method and apparatus for securing data while storing and transferring otherwise unsecured image data received from a digital camera for transfer to a computer.
A further advantage of the present invention is that it provides a method and apparatus for securing the chain of custody of digital data from cameras that would otherwise provide only unsecured image data.
Another advantage of the present invention is that by putting the security function in a removable storage device, the storage can be customized for a particular user with no need for special hardware on the camera or the PC, enabling the retrofitting of otherwise unacceptable cameras with appropriate security functionality.
A still further advantage of the method and apparatus of the present invention is that the processing provided is undetected i.e. transparent to the camera and to the computer, and as a result the method and apparatus can be applied to any digital camera, and also to a variety of other devices that utilize peer to host and peer to peer communication and/or removable storage.